10 Simple but Effective Productivity Hacks for Small Business Owners

10 Simple but Effective Productivity Hacks for Small Business Owners

As a small business owner, you may sometimes feel like you are more popular than you want to be. Each morning, you walk through the front doors and feel as though every person in the office needs your attention. Not only are you trying to give support to your team, but you have to deal with vendors, suppliers, and more. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities that have been placed squarely on your shoulders.

The productivity skills you develop personally will have a trickle down effect on your company. The more productive you are, the more productive your employees. We know how difficult it can be to maintain efficiency, so we have put together a list of 10 simple ways you can change the way you are doing things. Continue reading to discover how you can schedule meetings, take care of your health and even shorten your meetings.

1. Wait on the Non-urgent Emails

Every person that contacts you via email doesn’t need to be replied to right away. If you are in the habit of replying to every email you get the second it hits your inbox, slow down. A good way to boost your productivity when it comes to emails is to set up a separate inbox.

Use your second to route newsletters and other “offers” to. Check your second inbox once a week or every few days. Reply if you need to, but don’t do it every minute of the day. Reading every email the moment it comes in can be seriously hurting your productivity.

2. Schedule the 80-20s

If you’ve not heard of Tim Ferriss, let us tell you who he is. Ferriss is a virtual guru when it comes to productivity. While running BrainQuicken, Ferriss came up with a wayto increase sales while decreasing his hours.

It will take a bit of work on the front end, but it will produce amazing results. Take a look at your daily activities and the results they are producing. Whittle your list down until you have 20 percent of activities that produce 80 percent of the results you are looking for. Next, figure out the 20 percent of activities that you undertake that suck up 80 percent of your time. Look to see which activities make both lists. Look for the ones that don’t. Get rid of the ones that aren’t doing anything for you.

Keep in mind that just because you are busy, you aren’t necessarily being productive. Getting rid of the things that aren’t giving you a return on your time investment is a smart thing to do.

3. Shorten Your List

Do you feel as though your list is never ending? Maybe you walk into work and make a list of to-do’s for the day, and each item gets your equal and undivided attention. Just stop it. Your list of priorities should be short, because they are priorities. Make yourself create a list of to-do’s that absolutely must get done. Once you’ve got your short list, put it in order. Decide what you have to do first and what will get the most of your time.

4. Shorten Your Meetings

While you are shortening things, shorten your meetings as well. You don’t need to hold every single meeting during the day for an hour. It’s easy for meetings to get off-track and a bit out of control. That said, it’s up to you to run the meeting; say what needs to be said and get back to work. Seta meeting timer for 30 minutes and practice sticking to it. You will be surprised at how much more productive meetings can be when people feel like they are in a time crunch.

5. Get Out and Revamp Your Goals

Experts suggest that business owners often get lost in the daily operations of their company. Many set short and long term goals when they are putting their business together, and then forget to revisit those long term goals.

Leave the office. Go for a walk, go for a bike ride or wander around the local mall. Whatever you need to do to isolate yourself quiet your mind, get it done. While you are out, take some time to think about those long-term goals you have set and how you may need to readjust them.

6. Plan Your Day Based on You

Many business owners plan their days based on their company and all of their partners. This may be a mistake. We all have days in which we are more productive, and we have days that we would rather crawl back in bed. When you get to the office in the morning, plan your day based on your mood and energy levels. For example, our circadian rhythms often cause a “2:30” crash, so get your most important tasks done before then.

7. Get It Off Your Plate

Small business owners are terrible delegators. The problem with this is that no person can do everything on their own. Take a deep breath and give away some of your duties. Delegate to the people you trust.

8. Have a Free Day

A free day doesn’t mean that you don’t have to go to work, it just means that you should dedicate one day a week as meeting-free. When you know that you aren’t going to be interrupted with a meeting during the day, and your team knows it as well, everyone can be more productive and concentrate on those big tasks that take time and energy.

9. Stop Over-Analyzing

Analytics are great. They can tell you where you’ve been and where you are headed. Stopping to gather all possible information before you make any little decision will bring productivity to a halt. Stop over-analyzing and get better at making small decisions without needing to gather all the data available.

10. Get Comfy

You spend as much time in your workspace as you do in your home. Make sure that space is a comfortable one. Pictures of the things you love, baskets to hold your belongings and even a cozy chair can make you more comfortable and, in turn, more productive.

Company.com can help you boost productivity by taking some tasks things off your plate. Reach out to our team today to discuss the services we offer and to start your free trial of our premium package.